Flight Of The Phoenix
by The Dark Heroine
Summary: A young woman, plagued by dreams of a green code… what can it mean? And more importantly, who is the mysterious man looking for her?
1. Reminiscing

**Title:** Flight Of The Phoenix

**Author: **TheMastersDaughter

**Summary: **A young woman, plagued by dreams of a green code… what can it mean? And more importantly, who is the mysterious man looking for her?

**Rating: **T. Some language so beware!

**Disclaimer: **Much as I would love to own the Matrix, I don't. They are the property of the Wachowski Brothers, the Warner Brothers and Village Roadshow Pictures.

* * *

Again. That dream again. Green light, numbers and symbols… what could it mean?

Rubbing her eyes, Jenna kicked the covers off her bed to form a large, crumpled heap on the floor. She had the same dream every night, at least, when she actually slept. It was rare that she managed more than a couple of hours of rest before she woke, sweat pouring off her body and her breathing harsh and rapid as if she had been running from some inescapable nightmare fiend. Even in waking the strange green visage played in front of her eyes, tormenting her.

Wiping her dripping forehead on her sleeve, Jenna slowly pulled herself off the bed and slumped towards the gloomy kitchen to make a cup of tea. Little that it would help.

Glancing at the luminous clock fixed to the microwave, she briefly registered the time before drawing her eyes away quickly as they began to once again fill with the incessant green digits she saw every waking hour. Five am. 3 hours of sleep. Well, it was longer than she usually had.

She let out a soft sigh before wearily turning to the kettle, filling it with water, and turning the small red switch to the 'on' position. This was her morning routine. Her boss was always pleased to see his employee arrive early to work, little did he know the reasons for her punctuality.

The kettle boiled, the piercing whistle screeching in Jenna's head, further exasperating her volatile mood. Slamming a hand onto the innocent switch, she cursed as a few droplets of boiling water landed on her arm, scorching her skin. Ignoring the pain and fixing a worried frown on her face, Jenna carefully poured the water into a mug before wandering back to her bedroom and sinking down to sit on her lumpy, coverless bed. Clasping the hot cup between her hands, she let the comforting heat seep up her arms as she pensively watched the twirling wisp of steam gradually drift up to the ceiling.

What was happening to her? For months now, she had experienced vivid dreams of a dark, black emptiness penetrated only by an eerie assortment of undistinguishable swirling green digits. For months, she had barely slept, let alone enjoyed her life. Ever since… ever since Thomas had disappeared.

Jenna thought back, remembering the quiet, dark-haired and sparkling-eyed young man who had been renting the flat opposite her until two months ago. In a sudden turn of fate, he had abruptly disappeared from her life without a trace. No one knew where, or how. Everything in his flat had been left just as it was when he lived there. Rumour was that he had been kidnapped. Jenna disagreed. True, there was something distinctly odd about the entire situation, but kidnappings? No.

Jenna had known Thomas for barely six months before he disappeared. She smiled as she sipped her tea, remembering the circumstances under which they had encountered.

Six months ago, Jenna had been an eager young reporter with her entire career ahead of her. She had recently moved to America and was staying in a small, but decent apartment in a block of flats owned by her aunt. Although her aunt had offered to let her take the flat for free, Jenna had declined, telling her aunt that she would rather learn to live her own life and take care of her responsibilities. After all, how does anyone learn if they are given everything?

Jenna quickly procured a job writing for the local newspaper. It was a menial, minimal source of income, but it was money all the same. After working there for a week, she was swiftly promoted and sent out to do interviews along with other thinking-on-her feet tasks. That was how she met Thomas.

* * *

Metacortex, a well-known software company, had just released a big-hit computer game and Jenna was swiftly dispatched to interview the successful multimillionaire boss. She had taken an immediate dislike to the man, but as was her job, she suppressed her feelings and asked the necessary questions before preparing herself to leave. The boss had appeared a manipulative, sad little man and Jenna was convinced that he had barely participated in any part of the design or creation of the program. It was always the way. Lazy bosses took credit for all the work while the poor employees were simply left in shadow and forgotten about. She hated such injustice.

A frown of annoyance was plastered to her face as she swept hastily from the despicable man's office. One day, she decided, she would write exactly what she wanted – the truth - instead of the rubbish she was forced to write, praising the non-existent skills of undeserving millionaires. In the end, they were nothing.

In her rush to escape the building, she only just swerved in time to avoid knocking over a tall, dark-haired young man. His unaffected expression was distinctly gloomy and his deep brown eyes devoid of hope. His hair was messy as if he had not had chance to comb it before leaving the house and purple bags hung under his eyes to give an accurate dictionary definition of 'depressed employee'.

"Oh God, I'm sorry." Jenna apologised immediately, a light blush tingeing her cheeks as she clumsily pulled aside to let him pass. He looked up briefly, oblivious to the fact she had only just avoided bumping into him. After a moment, his blank face switched to an expression of mild confusion before breaking into a small smile.

"Don't worry."

Jenna smiled back and dipped her head slightly before turning away from the tired-looking young man and continuing her journey to the door.

Returning to her previous train of thought, Jenna began to map the article in her mind. The result was entirely unsatisfactory, but that was nothing unusual. There was an infinite number of corrupt, powerful people in her city, and it was her job to write about them in a good light.

Later that evening, Jenna's mind was plagued with a mixture of thoughts as she drove back to her apartment. The bright yellow eyes of passing cars glared at her as she wove carefully through the night traffic. She did not enjoy driving by night but she often did not have a choice. Especially as it was not uncommon to get stuck in the traffic jams that occurred on a regular basis.

Eventually, she pulled into a narrow grotty side-street lit only by a few dim streetlamps. Parking her car in one of the tiny spaces outside the block of flats lining the alley, Jenna sighed as she clambered out of her car, then locked it with a reassuring twitter accompanied by a quick indicator flash. Turning to the entrance door, she wrestled it open, desperate to get back to her apartment and dose up on alcohol to relieve the day's stresses. Just as she began to stride, two steps at a time up the stairs, she encountered a tall, thin figure in her path. Instinctively swerving to avoid the apparition, Jenna only succeeded in tripping over an unidentifiable object and slamming, face-first into the hard-tiled floor.

"Jeeeeesus!"

Jenna subsequently uttered a stream of curses as she attempted to lift herself from the ground. Her knees stung, her grazed arms twinged with pain, and her chest ached ominously with a pre-warning to the nice collection of bruises she would acquire the following morning.

Instinctively, she flinched away as a large pale hand entered her vision. Her eyes following the white arm to its owner, Jenna quickly registered the gentle concern before accepting the extended hand.

As the hand's owner pulled Jenna to her feet, she groaned slightly in pain. "Oww..." She moaned, rubbing her chest where she sensed a bruise was beginning to form. "That hurt." The woman straightened up and compulsively brushed the flecks of dust from her dark clothes, before glancing up to look straight in the eye of the figure towering above her.

"I'm sorry." A soft voice apologised guiltily as the figure helped her off the floor. It was difficult to see in the darkness, but Jenna squinted to conclude that the man was fairly young and a considerable few feet taller than her.

"Oh, don't worry, it's these damn lights, they're always not working. You can blame my aunt for that." Jenna said casually, wincing as her scraped arm brushed the cold metal hand railing. She smiled up at the figure and began to make her way up the stairs, fixing her mind on an image of her sideboard where she kept all her drink.

"Well, yeah…" Pensively, he paused for a moment before deciding to follow the young woman as she progressed up the stairs. "Sorry, who actually _is_ your aunt?"

Jenna laughed lightly and turned back to the figure whose features were still indistinguishable in the lack of light. Her eyes traced his shape and she guessed he was roughly the same age as her.

"My auntie's Holly Ravensworth. If you're living here - which I'm presuming you are - then she's your landlady." Jenna elaborated.

"Oh, right. Okay." The young man watched Jenna as she reached her floor and strode into the hall before turning back to the stairs as if unsure what to do with himself.

Vaguely aware of his absent behaviour, Jenna looked over her shoulder to see him sigh glumly before leaning against the metal hand-railing as if there was nothing else to do in life. But that's not true, Jenna told herself. There's always something to do.

"Hey, look, do you want to come in and have a cup of tea? You never know, it might be more interesting than looking down the stairs." Jenna joked. She was not quite sure herself why she had invited him in. Perhaps she felt a mutual connection with him. Perhaps it was fate… ha. Fate. No such thing.

"It's hard to beat looking down the stairs, but yeah, thanks." The man said quietly, abandoning his slumping position before promptly joining the young woman at her door. He waited patiently as Jenna fumbled in her bag for keys.

Her hand brushing the muck and grime accumulated in the bottom of her bag; Jenna promptly remembered that the keys were in the pocket of her trousers, typical to her nature. Her companion remained silent and indifferent as she continued to struggle, this time with fitting her key into the barely visible lock. It was like he was in another world, completely oblivious to everything happening around him.

After a few moments, the lock clicked and the door creaked inwards welcomingly. Allowing her guest to enter first, Jenna reached in to switch the lights on.

Her apartment was reasonably tidy, excusing the odd bottle of wine and half-empty glasses lying around. There was a small television in the lounge, along with a large bookshelf, a coffee table and a sofa suite. Running a hand through her dark locks, she sighed and gestured for the man to sit on her settee.

A frown creased her face as she met the man's eyes while he sat himself onto the couch, she suddenly realised why he seemed so familiar.

"I know you! You're the guy I almost bumped into earlier!" She exclaimed, a small blush appearing on her face as she remembered.

The man's serious, pensive expression transformed into a smile as he recognised her. "Oh yeah…" Mimicking her action of only moments ago, he also ran a hand over his head, apparently embarrassed.

Attempting to lighten the mood from awkward matters, Jenna tactfully changed the subject as she walked over to the sideboard, reaching inside in an attempt to find two wine-glasses.

"So whereabouts are you staying? I mean, what number?" She asked, having completed her quest for glasses, she began to search for a cheap bottle of wine.

"Just at the end of this floor actually. I never really talk to people round here. Just work." He replied, uneasily shifting on the sofa and clasping his hands on his lap like a guilty child. "Only been here for a few months since I got chucked out of my last place for rent."

Unsure how to reply to this, Jenna smiled lightly and closed her hand around a bottle, realising that she didn't care what wine it was, as long as she could drink it and forget the day's stresses. Sitting on the spare lounger, Jenna pulled the coffee table towards her and poured herself, and after a nod of consent from her companion, another glass, then handed it to the tired-looking young man.

The young man sipped the wine nervously, his eyes darting fleetingly around the room as if he expected something to leap out and attack him at any moment. Observing his curious behaviour, Jenna frowned, wondering if he had some sort of paranoia which prevented him from relaxing. Of course, she could not ask him because that would just be too direct, not to mention rude.

Taking a large gulp of her own wine to sooth her nerves, Jenna sighed relishing the feeling of the crimson liquid sliding down her throat.

"This stuff's good." The man told her, swilling the wine with his tongue as it tingled in his mouth, "What is it?"

"Er, Rosé? I think. Not sure, whatever I happened to buy last time I went to the supermarket." Jenna told him honestly, handing him the bottle so he could read the label. She watched him for a few moments until he glanced up, his dark brown eyes meeting her grey ones. "What did you say your name was?"

"Oh, I didn't. My name's Thomas, I work at Metacortex as you know." He told her, reaching out to give the wine bottle back to her. "You?"

Jenna's cheeks coloured slightly as his hand brushed hers in the exchange. Quickly composing herself, she nodded pensively and carefully put the wine bottle back on the table, its cool glass chilling her hot hand.

"I'm Jenna. I work for a local newspaper which basically no one reads. But it's a job, and I mostly enjoy it so…" She smiled at Thomas before draining the rest of her glass and refilling it with a light 'clink'. A stressful day required a lot of alcohol.

"Whoa, journalism? I suppose you were writing about that new program I – er, we developed?"

Raising her eyebrow at his slight blunder, Jenna nodded. _So that's how it went. __**He**__ developed the program. _"Yeah, personally – and no offense – but I don't reckon much to your boss." She immediately regretted what she had said as Thomas's eyebrows joined in a V.

Seeing her expression of concern, Thomas allowed a small smile to cross his lips. "It's alright. Nor me." He reassured her. "But I-" He was cut off as Jenna indicated the wine bottle, asking him if he wanted a refill. Nodding his consent, Thomas watched in silence as the glass filled with brilliant red liquid, casting eerie crimson shadows over the mahogany of her coffee table.

"Continue?" Jenna prompted, seeing that her companion was falling into another state of irresponsiveness. She concealed a smile as his head jerked up and his expression resembled one of someone just awoken from a deep sleep.

"I'm not great at getting to work." He finished slowly, choosing his words carefully as he laid his half-empty wineglass on the table then leaned back into the sofa, folding his arms behind his head.

Jenna smiled encouragingly. "I know what you mean, I hate getting up early, especially when I've had a bad sleep." She cut herself off before she began to ramble.

"Mmm. Yeah. I get these really… weird dreams. I don't understand it." Thomas replied uncertainly, looking off into the distance as if there was something there that Jenna was unable to see.

Taking another swig of her wine, Jenna nodded. "Some things the brain can't explain. Especially dreams. I read some of Freud's interpretation of dreams once, but I found it pretty heavy. Personally I think that I can come to my own conclusions from dreams, namely that I'm crazy!" Thomas chuckled slightly as Jenna smiled. "So what do you tend to dream about then?"

He shrugged his shoulders, the smile fading from his face. "I don't know."

Concluding that he didn't wish to talk about it, Jenna decided to lapse into silence, unsure what to say next. Perhaps Thomas just preferred silence and computers to human company.

The dim light above the coffee table sent long shadows across the room. Jenna finished her second glass of wine in one swallow then roe to her feet, rummaged in a drawer under the sideboard and produced a box of matches. She slowly wandered around her lounge, lighting any candles she found in the process. Jenna loved candles, they reminded her of life. Unpredictable and uncontrollable. Beautiful, but dangerous in equal measure.

"So er… how long have you been making computer programs for? I mean, you must be pretty efficient at it to be working for a big shot company like you do." Jenna asked lamely, finally breaking the awkward silence. The golden candlelight sent flickering, dancing shadows over the walls and bathed her skin in a soft luminescence while slightly increasing the heat in the room.

"Since I was twelve. I've always been good with computers, just not much else." Thomas replied simply as his gaze fixed on the candle, finding its dancing shape hypnotic. His eyes briefly flicked to Jenna as she replaced the matches in their draw and moved back to sit in her chair, promptly pouring herself another glass of wine.

"Oh, right. So what do you do in your spare time when you're not making programs then?" Jenna asked persistently, clasping her glass between her hands and leaning forward fractionally to show that she was interested to hear his reply.

Thomas paused for a moment, unsure how to respond. He decided on a half-truth. "Mainly working with computers. Sad it may seem, computers are my life. I just spend all day working on stuff for people." Jenna raised an eyebrow sceptically, he was deliberately avoiding the question. It was obvious he was used to keeping a lot of secrets, he didn't talk to a lot of people. But once Jenna wanted to know something, she would stop at nothing to get there.

"…Stuff?" She asked innocently, smiling gently at the young man, trying her charm to lure the truth from him. After all, she was not a reporter for nothing.

"Just er… stuff… you know…" He trailed off, avoiding her eyes as they trailed to her wine glass; the crimson liquid had turned a strange pink colour in the candlelight,, dying Jenna's pale skin a fiery orange. "Like websites for people." …_And big-ass hacks for punks who pay enough_. He added silently.

"Ah. Personally I like travelling, and the good thing is that it comes with the job." Jenna lifted her wine glass to inspect the liquid before taking another swig. "Have you travelled much?"

Thomas shook his head slightly. "No. Mostly America. That's it." He paused for a moment, then looked up to meet Jenna's inquiring eyes. "What countries have you been to?"

_God, I've never known someone who finds it so difficult to communicate._ Jenna thought. "Well, too many to name probably. I'm lucky cause I'm pretty well travelled. Let's see…" She put her wine glass down on the table and ran a hand through her fringe which had fallen over her eyes. "Well, I originally came from England, then moved here with my aunt, but before that I went to India, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, France… those sort of places." She grinned, "Oh, and Italy – that was good, but I loved Japan and Norway, they're fascinating countries."

"Wow." Thomas replied, his eyes widening slightly at her long list.

Jenna nodded. "Yeah, it's a long list and I could go on forever telling you all the pros and cons of each country." She looked up to meet his shining eyes and smiled then offered the bottle of wine to him again, seeing that his glass was once again empty.

Thomas looked blankly at the bottle for a moment, then realised she was offering him more wine. Passing a hand across his forehead, his eyes wandered until they fell on Jenna's clock, fixed above the sideboard.

"Thanks Jenna, but I'd better get back to my place. I gotta get to work on time tomorrow." He declined politely, groaning slightly as he rose off the settee and stretched with a loud yawn.

Jenna laughed lightly and smiled. "Would you like me to show you out?" She asked friendlily as she reached for her glass and swigged down the remaining crimson liquid, her eyes resting wistfully on the last quarter of wine left in the bottle.

Thomas smiled at her expression and shook his head. "Don't worry, I'm sure I can remember. I'll see you around." He began to walk towards the door, then changed his mind and looked back. "And try not to drink too much 'k? You'd better not be late either."

Jenna lifted an eyebrow at his sudden boldness, finding it almost patronising, but she thought about it for a moment. Considering that he wasn't a very talkative person, perhaps his concern was more valid than it was undermining. Jenna nodded.

"Sure, okay Thomas." However nice he was trying to be, she still found it slightly patronising, but maybe it was just his way.

He looked awkward for a moment, then opened his mouth to say something before changing his mind. This was not lost on Jenna.

"Yes?" She asked teasingly.

Realising he was not going to get away with saying 'nothing', Thomas sighed. "I was just gonna say thanks for inviting me round, I don't normally so…" He trailed off sounding embarrassed and in the soft candlelight Jenna was sure a slight blush coloured his cheeks.

"Anytime you want to come around or go out and get drunk, I'm the one to call!" Jenna told him enthusiastically. Perhaps the wine was taking effect, because she wasn't usually quite as blasé.

Looking even more embarrassed, Thomas gave a dignified nod and reached for the door handle before striding out with a last, shy, 'Bye.'

Jenna smiled, he was sweet and rather amusing. Hopefully they'd meet up again. Little did she know that they would, a lot, over the next few months.

* * *

Smiling to herself, Jenna sipped her tea. It was funny how she had thought that, because through those few months, she and Thomas had become good friends. They met up at least two nights a week to talk about anything interesting that had happened in their lives. Thomas had become more friendly with her aunt too, to the point of helping her with her rubbish every morning. Yes, he made her laugh.

They'd helped one another a lot. Jenna had reduced the amount she drunk, substituting alcohol for caffeine and Thomas had slowly come out of his shell to become a more forthcoming person, but she doubted he would ever be classified as social.

There had been a lot of talk in the neighbourhood, and of course by her aunt, about Jenna and Thomas becoming an item. Rumours of romance between them had flown like swallows, always hovering but never settling. They were good friends, and neither wanted to ruin what they had, it was as simple as that.

But now there was no chance of anything happening because Thomas had inexplicably disappeared off the face of the planet. There was nothing, absolutely nothing that could explain his absence, his sudden disappearance. She would have noticed if her friend had a stalker, equally, she was sure that if he was going on holiday, he would have told her. She had been his best friend.

_Enough reminiscing. _Jenna thought to herself as she drained the last of her tea and unwillingly set down her mug. Slowly drawing herself up from the bed, she reached a conclusion. Thinking back to the circumstances in which she and Thomas had met had triggered something in Jenna. A decision.

It was worth taking one last look at Thomas's apartment, whatever the police said. Perhaps they'd missed something. Something that she could find. It was, after all, her nature to be inquiring.

Slipping the hair band out of her long, unruly hair, Jenna let her long locks fall into her face as she pulled on some clothes and shoved a pair of trainers on her feet. Reaching into her pocket for her key, she pulled open her door then locked it behind her. She wasn't planning to be long, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

As she reached the door to Thomas's apartment, Jenna briefly considered if this was a good idea. What if she got caught? What if it was emptied by the police? What if…? No.

Jenna knew that if she didn't look, she would never be satisfied, and either way, it was too late to turn back now.

Pulling out the apartment key Thomas had given her a few weeks ago, Jenna quickly turned it in the lock and swiftly shut door 101 behind her. She had to be careful not to leave fingerprints or the police could get suspicious.

She felt a sinking relief as the usual pile of mess that was Thomas's apartment greeted her. They hadn't moved his stuff – yet.

Jenna smiled, remembering how many times she had playfully nagged Thomas about tidying it up. He never listened. A few times she had even cleared it up for him because she couldn't stand it, he'd threatened to take the key back from her then. So she had complied with his wishes and left it a mess.

Glancing up and breaking out of her thoughts, Jenna's eyes fell on a large pile of sheets stacked carelessly on the desk, striding over to them she quickly began riffling through the papers. Maybe there was something there.

Scan-reading the fine print, Jenna made out three recurring words. Dream, Morpheus, Matrix.

"What?" Jenna whispered to herself, a frown creasing her face. Thomas had never mentioned anything about a Morpheus, nor a Matrix… but the dreams…? Could it be that Thomas had been having the same living nightmares that she was now experiencing? Perhaps there was something here to explain it… or maybe his disappearance explained it…

Could it be that Matrix and Morpheus were some sort of government secret conspiracy? That maybe Thomas had been taken away for finding out something he shouldn't know? After all, he had hinted there was something he wasn't letting on about. Something secret, important.

Brushing the first pile of papers aside, Jenna discovered a yet larger pile, however these were handwritten. Her eyes widened in surprise as she leafed through the identical sheets of white paper covered in scruffy black marker pen. Over and over, the same words were written.

'What is the Matrix?' Hardly a square inch of paper was spared that was not covered in those words, that question. Glancing down, Jenna found more papers, exactly the same as the ones in her hands.

She could not believe it. Thomas, her friend. He was insane. Paranoid. Perhaps that was why he had gone. Perhaps he was in a mental institute…

She shook her head. No, that was not possible. Something was wrong. Very wrong. But how could she find out what? What was this all about? Why hadn't he told her?

Turning around, Jenna scanned the bookshelf behind her, pondering the idea of searching it. Some people hid important information in the strangest places.

Idly running her hand along the bookshelf, Jenna suddenly found her hand resting on a dark green book called 'Simulacra And Simulation' but it didn't feel like a book. It was cold, metallic, _And_, Jenna thought, _really not very bookish_.

Frowning, she recklessly yanked the lid off the disguised book-cum-metal tin, Jenna's eyebrows lowered into a deep frown as she reached inside, running her fingers through the various disks until she finally fished one out.

_Hacking? Is __**that **__what he was up to? I have to say, I thought he was smart… but breaking the law on this level is something else. _

As she squinted at the labels on the disks, a sudden flash of light caught her eye. Instinctively glancing up, Jenna's eyes were immediately drawn to Thomas's computer screen. _It's still on? Why would the police have left it on? How odd…_ She thought, drawing closer. Suddenly, her eyes refocused and she registered the symbols on the computer screen, the glowing green figures, swirling around in a chaotic maelstrom. As if in a trance, she drew closer to the flashing green monitor, hypnotised by the emerald storm of dancing digits.

"What is the Matrix?" Jenna whispered to his silent flat. It was as if the very words she had been reading repeatedly over the last few minutes had embedded themselves into the fabric of her mind.

Suddenly, the trance-inducing flashing ceased and was replaced by a plain black screen. Jenna's heart beat faster as suddenly green letters began to appear on the monitor, slowly forming words to produce a message. 'The Matrix is everywhere.'

Instinctively, Jenna spun around. Someone had to be watching her. Perhaps _they _had come for her now.

Her eyes darted around the room, scanning it for movement, a hidden camera - anything that could be used to observe her. The only source of light crept through the slim crack beneath the door, reflecting off the scattered sheets of information which flooded the floor like a strange interpretation of snow. Sighing in relief and silently cursing herself for being paranoid, Jenna fixed her gaze back onto the computer screen.

'They are here.'

Before Jenna had chance to react, a strong hand grasped the back of her neck while another roughly forced a foul-smelling grey cloth in front of her nose. Panicking, Jenna desperately tried to free herself from the iron grip. But it was impossible. Her captor had a grip of pure steel.

Squirming and wriggling, she struggled to squeeze out of their unyielding grasp, but as she thrashed in resistance to the restraining force, she only inhaled more of the odorous chemical permeating the rag. Realising her error too late as she gagged on the repugnant material, Jenna's eyes quickly flicked back to the flashing monitor.

'Help is coming…' The message was the last thing Jenna saw before collapsing, unconscious on the floor before a tall, dark figure stepped out of the shadows. His shiny, polished black shoes made no more sound than the soft pads of a cat's feet as he strode purposefully towards the computer and mercilessly yanked the plug from its socket causing the emerald display to cease. The figure allowed a small, satisfied smirk to cross its face before swiftly turning back to the unconscious woman's limp form.

"Well, pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Ravensworth."

* * *

_**Okay, so first chapter, not a lot happens and it's mainly introductions but I do promise more will happen in the next chapter. Please forgive the slow start, but I'll update as soon as possible – especially if you review!!!**_

_**Hope you like it so far,**_

_**~ TheMastersDaughter**_


	2. Interrogation

Jenna's mind spun, her head pounding as if she had just drunk several shots of vodka. Her eyes gradually focused and she recoiled from the blinding white light, reducing her vision to a squint.

Slowly, her eyes began to adjust to the increase in light and Jenna became aware of the sharp tang of disinfectant lingering in the stale air. Opening her eyes fully, she discovered, blinking, that she was in a square white cell.

There was a small white door set into one of the walls and in the centre of the cell was a rectangular black table, similar to those used in interrogations at work, in addition to a pair of hard plastic chairs positioned either side. _Definitely for interrogations._ She thought gloomily.

Pulling herself into a more vertical position, Jenna glanced down to register what was clinging to her skin. She had been lying, and was now sitting, on an uncomfortable black bed that was covered by a clear plastic film which was currently sticking to any flesh exposed to it.

The bed squeaked slightly as Jenna attempted to shuffle off it, only succeeding in rolling herself up in the plastic sheet as it stuck stubbornly to her sweat-covered skin. Pulling a face in disgust, Jenna roughly pulled the sheet from her skin, discarding the crackling material to the floor before leaping off the bed, preferring the unwelcoming plastic chair to the sticky bed.

Jenna carefully seated herself on the chair and almost fell off as, punctually, the small white door opened with a loud creak. Turning warily to face whoever entered, Jenna braced herself. _This could get ugly._

The young woman's eyebrow rose several centimetres as she took in her interrogator's bizarre appearances. First was a tall, slim man who wore a smart, expensive-looking suit and dark sunglasses, his receding brown hair was smoothed down perfectly and his clothes were immaculate. Another two men entered through the door, dressed in the same strange manner as the first, however, the other two, although intimidating had nothing on the air of confidence and authority exhibited by the first man. The two men also had shades on; one was large and bulky with his dark hair cropped short, while the other was slight and marginally shorter than his two companions, his hair was long and a delicate brown colour.

The apparent leader walked forward, his strides long and purposeful as if he considered precisely where he was going to set his foot before stepping. Her eyes flicking from one figure to the other, Jenna tried to get any sort of clue to their intent from their body language or facial expressions. To her disappointment, they remained cold, blank and motionless, apart from the leader who seated himself on the chair opposite Jenna.

At this point, Jenna made a vague observation that she could have heard a pin drop in the silence of the room since the three men had entered. She continued to look between them, waiting for the slightest betrayal of emotion as the latter two positioned themselves either side and behind her, towering over her seated form like two strange statues. Fearlessly glaring back at them, her eyes inadvertently trailed upwards, registering their ear com devices. Were they FBI or something? It was all very odd.

Her heart sunk considerably as the man in front of her reached inside his suit to produce a slim folder which he placed precisely on the desk in front of him, his eyes still masked by the dark sunglasses. Jenna watched, having nothing else to do, as he unhurriedly unbound the folder and carefully pulled the cover open with infuriating slowness. She barely caught a glimpse of its contents as he briefly thumbed through it before looking up at her. Jenna's eyebrows lowered fractionally, it really was very rude of him – police or not – to not even bother removing his sunglasses. All she could see in place of his eyes were two small reflections of herself, in the left one she had the bulky guy towering, wall-like beside her, in the other she saw the smaller man standing inertly on her right.

The suited man seated opposite Jenna continued to observe her in silence, considering her as she sat uncomfortably on the edge of the plastic seat. Finally becoming tired of the prolonged silence, the young woman cleared her throat and shifted on her chair, hoping to prompt the men into speaking. After all, it was rather intimidating being surrounded by three tall, silent men who watched blankly as their captive squirmed. Or rather perverse.

Jenna shivered slightly.

She was glad when the silence was broken by the man in front of her. "Hello Miss Ravensworth. I am Agent Smith." His voice was smooth and controlled and there was something strange about it which Jenna couldn't quite place. "And these are my colleagues, Agent Brown," He indicated the shorter man with a curt jerk of his head, "And Agent Jones." He gestured towards the bulky one.

"Er…hi." Jenna replied unsurely, there was something odd going on here, and she was going to find out what. "If you don't mind me asking, Agent Smith, how do you know my name?"

Jenna flinched involuntarily as the Agent suddenly reached up, his lips twitched slightly at her reaction, then his hand grasped his sunglasses, finally removing them from his face and placing them carefully in the breast pocket of his suit. Jenna met his eyes, half expecting them to be white and milky, only to find that they were an iridescent blue like the sky on a perfect sunny day. His eyebrows slanted upwards and his expression, although mutual, was unreadable but contained a hint of disgust.

The woman nodded her head slightly, thanking the man for removing his sunglasses. _Even though he should have taken off straight away, but at least he did it. Perhaps I'll be able to get some clues from them now. Like why I'm here. God, I hope I'm not in trouble._

"We have a few…questions for you." Agent Smith informed Jenna, his eyes fixing on hers and holding them in an icy glare. She didn't know why, but for some reason, the man seemed distant and somehow repulsed by her. Like he'd rather be anywhere else on earth apart from in the room with the young woman. _Maybe he's just a sexist pig. _She thought with a scowl, returning his gaze fearlessly.

Agent Smith's eyebrow rose an undetectable amount as he felt the intensity of the woman's reciprocating glare. "Questions regarding a Mr Thomas A Anderson." He eventually finished.

Jenna felt a rush of fear. She was hardly ambiguous – sneaking around in her missing friend's flat in the early hours of the morning. However, she didn't even know which organisation was interrogating her, not to mention proof of identification. "Sorry, let's backtrack a sec, can you remind what agency you work for _Agent_ Smith?" She asked, lacing her words with unrefined sarcasm, "I _would _like to know before answering anything, it's a question of giving away important information, right?"

"Not an agency you have heard of Miss Ravensworth." He answered cryptically. Obviously he wasn't going to give much away without a struggle.

"Well, _Mister_ Smith, I'm not sure I want to say anything then 'till I see proof of identity." Beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable due to the prolonged eye contact with the unblinking agent, Jenna finally looked away with a trace of a smirk. She was being deliberately awkward. _She _asked the questions, not some guy claiming to be an agent.

"I suggest if you wish to keep your job, Miss Ravensworth, that you answer my questions or you may find yourself unemployed." The man's voice remained even and emotionless but it had developed a harder edge. He was threatening her.

Assessing his tone of voice and morbidly serious expression, Jenna quickly concluded that this wasn't an empty threat. _Looks like I've got to watch my step a bit._ She thought, raising her own eyebrow at the hint of satisfaction on the agent's face.

"Right." She started, she had no desire to lose her job, on the other hand, she didn't exactly feel like complying with this arrogant man's demands. No one manipulated her. She had decided that a long time ago. This agent was no exception. "So, one last question from me then, just supposing I refuse to answer and I lose my job, what next?" She was taking a risk, but at the same time, it was obvious that these agents were powerful and they desperately needed her if they were going to such lengths to force answers from her.

"Honestly, Miss Ravensworth?" He asked with a small sigh as if weary of her attempts to aggravate him. "I think that you really would prefer to remain uninformed. How does your idiom go…? Ignorance is bliss."

_Threat number two._ Jenna thought sarcastically. He really wasn't endearing her to his cause. "And curiosity killed the cat I suppose? Look, _Smith_, I'm not your average gullible idiot. I want proof, evidence. It's my nature to be curious." She shrugged and glanced up to briefly meet the agent's icy eyes. A flash passed across them and before Jenna had chance to react, the man lunged forward, lightning fast, and roughly gripped her neck, angrily yanking her across the hard table. He was fed up of her games. He needed answers, and he needed them now.

He leant down, lowering his voice dangerously. "What are the whereabouts of Mr Anderson?" Smith asked quietly, his calm tone in her ear coupled with his choking grasp on her neck sent cold chills down her spine.

Jenna slowly lifted her hands and closed them on Smith's wrist in an attempt to free herself as she gagged, his unrelenting grip inadvertently strangling her as she struggled. The agent's wrist was slim, but his choking grasp on her neck was that of a much stronger man. Her attempts to free herself were futile and eventually she stopped struggling, realising that she had no chance against him.

"I-I-" She tried to say, but the grip on her throat was too great. She tugged once again on the man's unrelenting hand as her vision began to fade and her lungs begged for oxygen. Seeing that the woman was loosing consciousness, the agent uttered a faint sound of discontent before casually jerking his arm to throw her violently across the length of the room.

Jenna yelped as she hit the wall. _How can anyone be that strong? He just threw me several metres and he hardly looks stronger than my ex!_

Her eyes widened warily as Smith began to draw closer to her, his deliberate stride somehow menacing, as was the dark scowl etched across his face. Instinctively, Jenna backed away from him until her back was against the wall. _Shit! I'm trapped!_

Rubbing her burning throat, Jenna slowly brought her gaze up to meet Smith's unreadable eyes, staring fearlessly into their chilling depths.

"You can't assault me. It's illegal. In addition, I'm a member of the press which means I can guarantee that _you_ – whoever you are – will be on your way out of here by tomorrow whilst I and my colleagues stick a collective finger up at you."

"I don't think so, Miss Ravensworth. You see, the agency I work for doesn't care who I hurt as long as I do my job. It won't be a problem." Smith replied calmly, enjoying the woman's momentary expression of disbelieving horror as he observed her reaction. She was powerless, weak and undeniably human, whereas he could bend any rule she could think of. Humans. He despised even the word…

A small smirk slowly crept across his face; an unusual reflex for him, but an appropriate one all the same. He watched in satisfaction as the female glared up at him, hiding her seething fear with a ferocious anger. That annoyed him. He wanted to see her scared, trembling away from him. He wanted those answers and would do whatever it took to get them.

Feeling a slight buzzing in his ear, Smith cocked his head on one side before executing a short, precise nod. Pondering the agent's motives, Jenna pressed her injured back against the wall and slowly began to creep towards the door, hoping that the agent's momentary distraction would give her a much-needed opportunity to escape.

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms grasped Jenna's own, halting her progress. _Damn! I'd forgotten about the other two!_ She cursed as she struggled fiercely against their steel grips. Feeling a surge of anger rising within her, Jenna abruptly fell still, allowing the two men to drag her to her seat. For any other captors, her reaction would have been unnerving, but these men were fearless and unwise in a woman's ways.

As the two agents dropped her back on the seat, Jenna let herself rest there for a moment until Smith reappeared in front of her, calmly sitting himself down on the chair as if nothing had happened.

Seizing her opportunity while the three men were off-guard, Jenna laid her hands on the table in front of her before summoning all the strength in her arms to shove it as hard as she could. The table flew across the room before slamming with a loud 'bang' against the opposing wall. Smith, aware that the woman was possibly dangerous, had taken the precaution of jumping out of his seat the moment she had laid her hands on the desk. He watched impassively as the table dented the wall behind him before glaring up at the woman. Why couldn't they just learn to cooperate? It was completely illogical, and futile, to resist.

Smith's eyebrows lowered into a frown as Jenna breathed heavily in front of him, her eyes burning passionately as she prepared herself for whatever was to come next.

Without warning, Smith launched himself across the space between them, wrestling the woman to the ground and using his body to pin her in place. He needed this woman to answer his questions, he couldn't kill her. Not yet anyway.

"I warned you, Miss Ravensworth." Smith said wearily, using one hand to disable her arms while the other reached inside his jacket.

Jenna squirmed furiously beneath him, her top sliding up a few inches to reveal her flat midriff. How dare he? No one treated her like this. She struggled furiously to free her arms from his one-handed grip, but it was useless, he was too strong. Inhumanly strong.

Finally withdrawing his pale hand from his jacket, Smith pulled a small flashing object, similar to a tracker, from his inner pocket. Holding it out in front of him, he carefully began to lower it towards Jenna's exposed midriff.

She recoiled in horror as the device began to change, slimming out and developing legs as it transformed into a bug-like creature which had numerous legs as it twisted, desperately trying to free itself from the agent's grip. In a desperate last attempt to escape the agent's grasp, Jenna lifted her leg and carefully aimed her knee directly towards Smith's crotch.

The agent jerked away abruptly, dropping the bug which promptly shattered into a thousand miniature shards as he leapt away from the woman, recovering from the shock of her sudden resistance. No one was allowed to do this. Especially a human.

Hearing the buzz in his ear again, Smith glared at the other two agents. _What did they mean 'did he require assistance'? _It never failed to amaze him how inferior and stupid they were. Still unmoving, the substandard agents patiently awaited his orders. Inclining his head and resisting the temptation to inflict his fury on his surroundings, Smith took his place between the two inferior agents as they stepped forward to restrain the woman.

Jenna spat, bit, kicked and punched as the two men moved to control her violent actions. She didn't catch Smith's momentarily lapse of control; showing a brief moment of frustration as she fought her captors. The agents caught her arms easily, twisting them ruthlessly behind her back until she screamed out before levering her back into one of the chairs. Slamming her down onto the seat, the two agents continued to restrain her arms as Smith leisurely strode over to look down at her.

"Ohh…Miss Ravensworth. You really aren't helping your situation here." He sighed, allowing an expression not dissimilar to cockiness spread across his features as he kneeled down to make eye contact with the woman in front of him.

"Bastard!" Jenna hissed angrily, glaring directly into the man's eyes as she struggled uselessly against the combined force of her captor's grips.

Smith shook his head slightly in a dismissive movement like a teacher disappointed by a pupil. It was quickly becoming apparent that this human wasn't going to give him the answers willingly. He would have to use more dramatic methods.

Reaching for his belt, Smith watched Jenna's eyes widen as he pulled the gun from its holster. Lifting its comfortable weight in one hand, the agent slowly swung the revolver to aim it at Jenna's forehead.

"Now, I really wouldn't want to do this, Miss Ravensworth, but I might be left with no choice unless you answer my question. Where, is Mr Anderson?" He asked again, his voice lowering to a deadly whisper.

Jenna bit her lip. What was she supposed to do? She didn't know where he was, and even if she did, she wouldn't want to tell them. She glanced up to meet the agent's icy blue eyes and felt him move his gun closer, pressing the cold steel nozzle to her forehead.

"I said I didn't know, and I meant it." Jenna repeated through gritted teeth, her heart beating faster as she realised these could quite possibly be her last words.

Agent Smith glared down at her, assessing her sincerity. He might just shoot her anyway, especially considering all the frustration she had put him through. But something made him think that the woman was the key to finding Mr Anderson's location…

Lifting his gun from her head, Smith decisively turned back to his two inferior colleagues. "Leave." He instructed, then seeing them hesitate, he firmly added: "Now."

After a moment of reluctance, they nodded methodically, exchanging encrypted glances with one another before striding towards the door and slamming it shut behind them. Smith almost sighed with relief that they had gone. They were so boring, so tedious, so easy to control. Spinning around on his heel, the agent carefully removed his ear com and looked back down at Jenna, keeping his gun aimed directly at her forehead as he paced restlessly around her chair.

"Do you know what the Matrix is, Miss Ravensworth?" He asked unexpectedly. Catlike, he was playing with his prey before killing it, besides, she might provide him with some entertainment before she died.

"N-no." Jenna whispered hoarsely, massaging her throat as it continued to ache. She hated this man, whoever he was, he was going to pay. But she wondered for a moment, why had he sent the other two agents away? Why had he removed the com? Was it because he planned to kill her without any witnesses? Was he defying a higher authority?

"The Matrix is a system," Smith's cool, even voice broke through her thoughts, "And within it are programs, much like myself… and then, there are you. Humans." He spat the word, as if the very taste of it disgusted him. "A disease. A plague. I can't stand this world, it's infected by it. You spread, you multiply, and engorge yourselves on every corner of this planet, this reality – or whatever you want to call it. You humans are a disease inflicted upon this world. A virus."

Smith glared down at Jenna, disgusted by her very existence as she watched him dispassionately, irresponsive to everything he said, and curious.

"If I'm a human, then what are you?" Jenna asked in confusion. "A program you say? How can you be a program? You'd sort of be like a robot, right?" Her curiosity overrode her hate for the man in front of her as she questioned him.

"Yes. I am a program within the system." Smith replied simply. He was bored of this now. He would kill this human and revel in its death. Not that programs could revel, but he would feel he had fulfilled his purpose.

Jenna's head snapped around as Smith paused in his pacing. It was unnerving. Her eyes widened as they fixed on the black gun nozzle aimed at her face.

Stalling for time, Jenna quickly thought up a question. "Wait, do I get a last request?" She asked the agent, her eyes pleading.

Smith allowed a confident smirk to slide onto his face as he held the gun closer to her forehead, dropping the safety catch with a loud 'click'. "Perhaps, Miss Ravensworth."

She glared at him before continuing. "I just wanted to ask, that if you _are_ a program, and you really _do_ despise humans, then why haven't you killed us all?" She paused for breath, "And, if you haven't killed us all, then why are you killing me?"

Jenna glanced up at him to see if she'd had any impact. The agent was frozen, head cocked on one side and finger still resting readily on the gun trigger.

A loud siren suddenly broke the prolonged silence as an alarm went off in the building, almost deafening to Jenna's ears as she instinctively reached to cover them. Her eyes widened in horror and shock as Smith's shape began to twist and swell in front of her before switching to that of a security guard. They exchanged expressions of surprise before a loud bang echoed through the building and the cell door flew off its hinges, accompanied by a large amount of smoke and flames. Someone had set an explosion off.

Before Jenna had the opportunity to move, a thin dark figure appeared in the doorway, gun in hand and casually shot the man next to her, killing him without a hint of remorse. Fearing she would be next, Jenna backed against the wall, taking in the assailant's features.

It was a woman; she was thin and dressed in tight black clothing. Her dark hair whipped furiously at her face while the winds from the explosion behind lashed her back. The woman's expression was grim and determined as she strode forward, gun outstretched and a loud bang echoed in Jenna's ears before everything in her world went black.

* * *

**_Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. Thanks to everyone who was reviewed so far - as I always say, the more reviews I get, the quicker I churn out the next chapter so please review for more!!!_**

**_~ FreeXFallXPhoenix (no longer TheMastersDaughter!)_**


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